Garden waste bag as drogue?

[Gazza]

I've trailed warps in the past, and have trailed various things on them (go-cart tyres and, in one heavy gale, my "flopper stopper". I''m considering having a dedicated drogue but would like to keep costs to a minimum.

My local surplus place hasn't got any small parachutes, but I've noticed in our local garden centre a free standing bag for garden waste. It's about 1 metre high when standing and about 70cm wide. The top is self-opening/supporting and the straps seem fairly substantial (could always be beefed up). The bottom would need to be opened up to allow some water flow. It folds flat for storage which is a distinct advantage.

They are (in boatie terms) pretty cheap at about £15 each, so a couple in series might be an option.

Anyone any thoughts/experiences with anything like this? Any help gratefully received.

Gary Miller

 

[Talbot]

very much doubt that it would be strong enough for this task. You may be able to find a military cargo parachute that would be suitable at a very reasonable cost (seen 20ft ones advertised at abt $80)

 

[Avocet]

I've just had a few bags of building sand delivered. Those huge sacking carrier bags with 4 handles that hold about a ton of sand each. The truck just turns up, picks one off its back with a mechanical arm and drops it on your drive. Apparently the bags are non-returnable so I was wondering about finding a use for them!

 

[Swampyhotdog]

I found that a car tyre does the trick.
Not the handiest thing to stow, but you'll be glad of it when you need it.

Stu

 

[wooslehunter]

Depends if you want a drogue or a sea anchor. Wouldn't something like the builder's bag be too big for a drogue but not big enough for a sea anchor? If a tyre works fine as a drogue then think how much drag you'd get with the bag. That's unless most of the bottom is removed.

I've used a drogue for towing quite a bit and one boat I play with carries a tubular drogue that's around 30cm across at the mouth & 10cm at the tail. It's around 1m long. It works fine for towing 40 foot plus yachts with no steering in lots of wind so the drag's quite a bit.

 

[jerryat]

Exactly. Gazza mentioned the 'bag' being used for a drogue, not a sea anchor which would require a far larger diameter. I too have trailed warps which, while aiding the directional stability of the boat, did little to slow her down. Perhaps I should have trailed more.

However, when sailing off the Moroccan coast 3 or 4 years ago on the way to the Canaries again, some unpleasant weather decided to clobber us. A few hours later in the middle of the night there was a terrific bang, followed by an 'electrical type' crackle. I shot up into the cockpit to a relatively stable, peaceful motion and the port dodger flapping loose, a lifebuoy and light gone, and the 15lb Bruce kedge streaming out astern at the end of 15 metres of chain (the crackling sound was the chain screaming out of the stern hawse pipe!) and 50 metres of multiplait. We'd been hit by a lumpy cross sea that had swept the gear over-board and lifted the anchor from it's bracket.

The difference in motion and speed was amazing. We had perfect directional stability AND a sensible (i.e. not too slow) reduction in speed. We winched the anchor in until the combination of the two factors was right for the conditions, and relaxed.

We have since used this 'method' on at least five occasions with exactly the same success. It seems that the orientation on the 'palm' or 'hand' shape of the Bruce lends itself to a stable position in the water, i.e. it doesn't turn or spin. Just adust the length streamed to suit the conditions and the characteristics of your boat.

Just a another idea you may care to try.

Cheers

Jerry

 

[ChrisE]

What a good idea

That's very interesting.

For survival conditions, we carry a series drogue (lots of mini drogues on 150m of 18mm mulitplait with a 15lb kedge at the end to sink it) which to date we've not had to use (thank god). To cope with just the kind of conditions you mention (ie not survival but unpleasant), I'd been wondering about putting the lot on a winch and playing out as much as we needed to bring some directional stability. In a big following/ cross sea the Monitor wind vane gives a delightful yaw that I'd like to minimise and a bit of series drogue might just be the answer.